Featured Guest: Dr. Eric Maisel is the author of more than thirty-five books. His inter­ests include cre­ativ­ity and the cre­ative life, men­tal and emo­tional health, and phi­los­o­phy and the art of mak­ing meaning.

His books for cre­ative and per­form­ing artists include Fear­less Cre­at­ing, Coach­ing the Artist Within, The Van Gogh Blues, The Cre­ativ­ity Book, and Cre­ativ­ity for Life.

A Writer's Paris Giveaway:
Today I picked up one of my favorite books of Eric's at a secondhand bookstore, A Writer's Paris. I'm planning on sending it to one lucky podcast listener. Might it be you? To enter, leave a comment section below noting one takeaway from this special podcast. A luck winner will be chosen at random and announced on December 31 in the comment section below, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

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I loved how he talked about doing your creative works in the morning before you start your day. Granted I'm a college student and work mornings at a coffee shop so I will have to work to find a way to make this happen.

The one takeaway from your conversation with Eric Maisel is the idea of sparking your creativity by doing something like a morning exercise. My exercise is my commute to work with having the ability of allowing my imagination and thoughts flow during that bus, train, and walk to work. The only drawback is that I don't write any of my thoughts down. So, I will have to carry with me a notepad to capture them.

My take away is the ten zen seconds. Marrying the two useful practices, deep breathing and right brained thinking. What a great concept that breaks down the myth that you can only do this if you meditate for hours.

hurray, works now... finally can listen to it too hehe...I like the "writing space" issue, not just for writing but just in general finding the ONE space for myself - whatever I would do there... that spoke to me :-)

This was a wonderful podcast with Eric Maisel. An important message I took with me is taking responsibility to create meaning in our lives daily, ideally the moment we wake up. Rather than waiting or hoping for the time at the end of the day, take control of our creative lives as the day begins allowing the "less meaningful" daily deeds to be simply that.

Thanks for introducing your listeners to Dr. Maisel! This is perfect timing, considering that over 2011 I really worked on incorporating more creative and expressive work in my therapy with clients. The zen sounds was a great idea, and I appreciate starting the day with creativity--something I will need to incorporate more in my own life.

I like when Eric Maisel talked about completely stopping. I feel one of the main things that has stifled my creativity is not allowing enough time for creative thought - perhaps out of a misguided attempt to make being creative just another thing I can check off my daily to-dos. Even a few minutes of genuine complete stopping I think would be helpful.

I really liked how he talked or referenced creating with your own rythem (AM or if you really are a PM creative person) And how he talks about you really needing to take action on it and not just give it lip service to when your creative rythem is.

I liked how he talked about the hour of morning creativity. The idea of having one creative focus and just working on it each day. The process. Sounds a bit like creating a creative habit. Loved the podcast, it was full of lots of inspiring ideas.

I really love Eric's confidence in the process he recommends and I particularly loved the example he gave of the pastor who quit and then decided to do art - showing up every day to make serious steps towards his end goal.Thank you for sharing this interview. it is really encouraging. May 2012 be a special year for you!

I really liked his point about making creativity a priority, rather than leaving it until you have time. I often find myself getting all of my 'important' to-do's out of the way before I allow myself time to create and by then I am exhausted. I think a morning practice would be a great idea for me.